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Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

Hi -

Today is a dreary and wet day in NorCal (SF area). I took a look at my hives and on one I saw about a half dozen dead or dying bees around the entrance. Two of them had shriveled wings, the others looked normal. I presume this is an indication of DFV and thus mites? I'd treated the hive in the fall with Hopguard and it's the strongest of my three hives, with a ton of bees as of the last sunny day last week. Is there anything I can/should do?

I do have some Hopguard strips left, and also have some MAQS from last year. Forecast is for drizzle and cold for the next week.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

Dwv is a sign that your hives have mites, I know this first hand! As far as treatment this time of year, I'm not positive what would be best with the temps being low and all. I know I am taking a hard look at oxalic vapor treatment for winter time, but need to study and learn more about it before trying it.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

You have some major issues going on in there. I would treat them with Thymol and a really strong solution of Fumagilin®-B. Mix it up with Sugar water and on a day over 50 I would pour a cup over them I would do that for 3 weeks in a row or as close to it as you can. Dont mix up more then you can use because it has a 2 day mix life. They will lick it off and clean up just fine. Just beware of the temperature warmer the better. In CA you might even be able to do a Maqs treatment. But, you wont have a very good hive in the spring if you leave them that way. IMHO

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

Yep, sounds like mites, Maqs have always been good to me and my bees. Never tried the hopguard have heard some say it OK and others say it isn't that effective. Never tried any other trements for that matter I know Maqs work and if it aint broke dont fix it, or it might be.

All beekeepers can agree on one thing, and that one thing is, that all beekeepers can't agree on one thing.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

Originally Posted by BeeGhost

Dwv is a sign that your hives have mites, I know this first hand! As far as treatment this time of year, I'm not positive what would be best with the temps being low and all. I know I am taking a hard look at oxalic vapor treatment for winter time, but need to study and learn more about it before trying it.

Here was my quick fix vapor method I found. I did not come up with it. Make some aluminum foil into a small pan to hold the Acid. make another small tray to hold a Hooka Coal. Light coal. let it get completely white and burning very well. set it on the top of the frames on the foil tray. an aluminum dish works even better. then place the second piece of foil with the acid on top. You want the acid to vaporize in a minute or two. Let set for 10 minutes and remove the coal and foil. You can bury the coal in sand or dirt to extinguish it. Drop it in water if you want to but be careful it will flash steam as it hits the water.

Use tongs to handle hot stuff like the coal and the aluminum once the coal has been on it. I usually just leave the set up for an hour or more and let it burn out. Cheap and easy and readily available there in Caly.

I started seeing a few bees with deformed wings last summer. At first I thought uh oh I have a problem starting. Found out later I had a problem well under way. It had gotten fairly bad by the time I got it all together. 3 treatments with vapor one week apart right at the end of summer. and a winter hoping it did the job. I don't recommend that method.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

usually by the time you start seeing Deformed wing virus its too late. You will have very high mite counts and you will have a brood nest heavily infected with this virus your seeing.
you can treat to salvage, but with my experience by the time you start seeing Deformed Wing Virus your hive is next to death

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

Originally Posted by AmericasBeekeeper

Fumagilin is for Nosema.

If he has one over the winter he will have both. I am guessing the poster has not treated for mites and he has also not treated for Nosema. Hate for him to knock the mites back and have them die of Nosema. Every bee carry's nosema and a sick hive will get clobbered by it quickly. Just preventative.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

My Cheap and Simple Oxalic Vaporizor

Take a copper pipe 2' or less 1/2" 3/4 or 1" whatever you can get. Smash one end about an inch flat with a hammer, fold it, smash it again, and fold it again. Test to make sure it is air tight. That's it you done.

I also made a wooden spacer 2" tall with the plexy glass to hold the vaporizer. The top is clear so you can see in the hive-watch the vapor. Remove the lid and outer cover place the spacer on the hive, it seals the top of the hive with just the copper tube sticking out.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

Nosema is not as prevalent and hardly ever tested for as most do not have the microscope.
"In the United States, N. ceranae has been detected in honey bees from Nebraska, Wisconsin, Arkansas, New York and South Dakota using PCR of the 16S gene.[1][2] In New York, N. ceranae was detected in 49 counties, and of the 1200 honey bee samples collected, 528 (44%) were positive for Nosema, from which, PCR analysis of 371 spore positive samples revealed that 96% were N. ceranae, 3% had both N. ceranae and N. apis, and 1% had N. apis only.[3]"
"Here in the U.S., some beekeepers blame N. ceranae for taking down their colonies, and depend upon regular use of fumagillin to stay in business, whereas others have yards of mildly infested colonies that thrive and produce great yields of honey (this is the case in my own operation—“Bonehead Beekeepers”—where we vigorously pursue the single- minded quest of exploring every conceivable way to lose money at beekeeping)." Randy Oliver

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

"In the United States, N. ceranae has been detected in honey bees from Nebraska, Wisconsin, Arkansas, New York and South Dakota using PCR of the 16S gene.

So did the not find it anywhere? or was it found in 100% of the locations it was looked for?

The above could easily be read to mean that here in Nevada I don't have to worry about monitoring for Nosema. If that is true then I can put my microscope money toward something for conducting II rather than Nosema monitoring.

Re: Saw a couple bees with deformed wings today... anything to do?

hi bison

Sorry to hear about you problem, I have one of my hives that had some bees with DWV, treated them with Hopegaurd back in Oct. I have seen only one or two bees since with DWV. When you treated with Hopegaurd did you use 2 strips per box and put new ones in every week for 3 weeks?